Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris
There has been a 'yes' bounce. 
A small one, mind you, but nonetheless.
This of course is exactly what the No campaign expected would happen, which is why they have started getting the hard messages out now, 7 months ahead of the vote, rather than in the last few days.
Salmond is being played off the field by experts and he doesn't even realise it. In playing the man, not the ball, he has lost an opportunity to counter the argument about the pound. He has gone for populism (Bullies!) and denial, which is a great rabble rouser, but in six months time the facts about the pound and the EU will still be on the table and Salmond's ammunition has already gone.
And the longer he sticks to his current line of denial, the more entrenched will become the idea that he and his plan can't be trusted. |
Kind of concerned there is a bounce in Yes to be honest. Can't believe that such obvious nationalist populism resonates better than the practicalities of the economy. It's always been my assumption that most of politicking is a side-show that matters little, bar a minority of ideologues, and the fundamentals of jobs, pensions and mortgages tend to decide elections.
I see what you're saying about this being a temporary boost that will then give way to the practical questions of independence but that polling suggests most Scots believe Westminster is bluffing. That would explain why there hasn't been a boost in the No polling and why they believe that Westminster is 'bulling' Scotland.
It's also quite surprising that, according to the poll, a large number of Scots seem to honestly believe that rUK would be willing to lose some sovereignty over our currency and risk being on the hook for Scottish banks. It's not as if we haven't got an example of us rejecting currency unions before nor have a pretty good example of why a Currency Union without closer political union isn't a good idea.
Again I am not sure they quite understand what they will be voting for in September. That they are voting for Independence and not just a slightly greater degree of freedom from Westminster. They won't get to leave the Union but keep everything they like about it. Get to have a better country but still depend on the rest of the Union for the things it does well.
Salmond really is a snake oil merchant with a brass neck that would make any of the main political parties leaders blush. I quite like the story about him in the Economist:
http://www.economist.com/news/leader...ded-submission
Quote:
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ALEX SALMOND’S first foray into politics was in primary school, when he represented the Scottish National Party in mock elections—and won, after pledging to replace his fellow pupils’ daily allowance of milk with ice cream.
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Hasn't changed much then. Only this time that ice cream will not only be cheaper, it will be healthier and you can have as much as you like without getting fat. For free.